The present invention pertains to battlefield simulation systems and more particularly to systems where accurately simulating the effects of mine warfare.
Present simulation systems provide for opposing forces to engage one another in force-on-force training in simulated battles. These simulated battles are called exercises. During these exercises, combined arms forces engage in battle using laser transmitters and receivers/decoders for simulating the effect of direct fire weapons like tank guns and small arms fire. Manual, RF or GPS based systems are used to simulate the effects of indirect fire (artillary, mortar, mine, nuclear, chemical and biological).
One of the remaining shortfalls of the combined arms training exercise simulation systems is the inability of such systems to accurately simulate the effects of mine warfare. In such systems which support minefield warfare, devices worn by vehicles and troops detect their position and self-determine whether their position is close enough to a mine to detonate the mine. A more common method is to assign a uniform probability over the entire minefield and base the effects on time in the minefield. However, subsequent troops which come across the same location where a mine has previously been detonated also detonate the mine. Therefore, there is no reward for taking evasive or defensive maneuvers once a mine is detected. The location determining devices carried by troops and vehicles is a receive only link. Since the receive only device is carried by vehicles and troops self-determine their position and compare it to a predetermined minefield arrangement, subsequent troops entering the same area do not have the benefit of previous detonation of a mine in that area. That is, a first troop or vehicle will set off a particular mine at a particular location and the second vehicle or troop passing that same location will also set off the same mine. This does not monitor actual warfare. Once a mine is detonated, subsequent troops or vehicles may travel that location without being destroyed by the mine.
It would be highly desirable to provide a method for determining minefield effects providing for only a single detonation of a mine in the simulated battlefield.